Republi-CON Victimhood

In 1948 Strom Thurmond of South Carolina ran for President of the United States on the Dixiecrat (or States' Rights) ticket. Thurmond had based his presidential campaign largely on an explicit racial segregation platform.

In December 2002, at the 100th birthday party of Thurmond, Trent Lott, Senate Republican leader, said: "When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either." After an outcry by Democrats, Lott resigned his leadership post.

Now it has been reported that during the last U.S. presidential campaign, Harry Reid, Senate Democratic leader, praised Obama as a "light-skinned" African American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." Republicans are demanding Reid resign. Should he?

Is pining for the good old days of segregation and white supremacy the same as an accurate analytical comment on politics and race?

Truth is though, a review of statements by members of both parties show they are not so different after all.